ESTRADA TRIAL SUSPENDED, TO RESUME IN JANUARY:
Sandiganbayan Justice Teresita de Castro on Wednesday suspended the
historic corruption trial of jailed ex-President Joseph Estrada until
January amid mounting obstacles.
De Castro, who took over as acting chair of the 3rd Division from
suspended Associate Justice Anacleto Badoy, canceled Wednesday's
hearing and two remaining trial proceedings this month because of a
lack of a quorum.
The trial was set to resume Jan. 7.
The Estrada trial was actually due for a long break as the court
will be taking its traditional Christmas holiday vacation during
which no hearings are scheduled. But following the Supreme Court's
surprise ruling last Tuesday ordering Badoy to go on indefinite leave
and barring him from presiding over the Estrada trial, many issues have
emerged. For instance, would the Estrada cases be raffled off again?
Will the deposed presidents trial for economic plunder again suffer
delays over legal questions stemming from the constant change in the
bench's composition?
Badoy's removal from the plunder trial, which began Oct. 1, is one
of several problems hounding the first-ever corruption trial of a
Philippine president. The trial has been mired in weeks of legal
wrangling and hampered by a feud between Badoy and Sandiganbayan
Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena and Estrada's health problems.
Estrada has been tentatively set to undergo an operation on Sunday to
remove a cyst in his left eye. He has also sought court permission to
travel to the United States for knee replacement surgery.
The Supreme Court ruled the other day that it was indefinitely barring
Badoy from handling Estradas trial for the capital offense of economic
plunder until it resolves questions about his neutrality and conduct.
Estradas lawyers have questioned Badoys impartiality. Badoy has
also been criticized after he was rushed out of the courthouse in
an ambulance recently, only to be brought to a television station
for an interview.
With Badoy complying with the leave order starting yesterday, the
three-seat 3rd Division could not immediately get a "warm body" to
act as his replacement for the 1:30 p.m. hearing.
Inquirer, 12/12/2001
DOCUMENTS ON ESTRADA CASE LOST: BADOY: Sandiganbayan Third Division
presiding justice Anacleto Badoy claimed in an exclusive interview
over GMA-7 television Thursday that documents on the ongoing plunder
trial of former president Joseph Estrada were slipped out of the
anti-graft court premises.
Badoy identified court stenographer Janno del Rosario as the one who
brought the plunder case documents out of the Sandiganbayan premises.
He noted del Rosario took the documents on Nov. 27 during the
birthday party of fellow third division justice Ricardo Ilarde.
The Sandiganbayan's third division is hearing the plunder case against
Estrada, who is being detained without bail at the Veterans Memorial
Medical Center.
The anti-graft court judge had sought GMA-7 news anchor Mike Enriquez
for the interview. Upon arrival at the GMA Network Center in Quezon
City on a Lifeline Arrows ambulance on Thursday afternoon, Badoy was
led to the station's conference room where he met Enriquez.
According to Enriquez, Badoy chose to come out on live television
since he was concerned about the lost documents, which includes
resolutions on the case.
Inquirer, 11/30/2001
ATONG ANG ARRESTED IN LAS VEGAS: Estrada associate Charlie "Atong"
Ang was arrested by agents of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) at 3 a.m. Sunday (Sunday, 8 p.m. Manila time) at the Paris
Hotel Casino in Las Vegas.
Ang is now in the custody of the US Marshall Service and kept in
a detention facility in Las Vegas.
In a meeting with Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. in Los Angeles in July,
Ang said that he would fight his extradition "on the grounds of human
rights."
He denied then that he was in hiding and claimed to be "openly
transacting business in California," according to Pimentel. He was
reportedly planning to put up a shopping mall in California.
Ang fled the country more than 10 months ago following the collapse
in January of the administration of his longtime gambling buddy and
business associate, Joseph Estrada. He escaped reportedly with
Yolanda Ricaforte, Estrada's alleged "jueteng" auditor.
Ang and Ricaforte are now co-accused with Estrada in the plunder
case before the Sandiganbayan third division.
Ang was arrested on the basis of a Philippine government request for
his extradition, according to Victoriano Lecaros, spokesperson of the
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
In Malacanang, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered Tuesday the
DFA to immediately complete the paperwork for Ang's extradition.
It was learned that the Macapagal administration had allegedly sent
overtures to Ang to turn state witness against Estrada but that he
refused twice.
But it may take time before Ang is returned to the Philippines to
face plunder charges. The Chinese-Filipino businessman's extradition
hearing is still scheduled on Feb.28, 2002. His petition for bail has
been denied.
Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said that Ang was arraigned before
the US District Federal Court in Las Vegas.
Inquirer, 11/28/2001
HIGH COURT UNDER PRESSURE FROM ESTRADA FRIENDS, FOES:
Parties for and against deposed President Joseph Estrada are
"agitated" over the impending Supreme Court decision on the
constitutionality of the plunder law and are preparing to
mount mass actions to apply pressure on the justices.
A "vigil" by Estrada supporters at the Supreme Court building on
Taft Avenue in Manila, scheduled to start Sunday night,
will continue until the justices cast their votes,
a member of Estrada's media relations team said.
"People are getting dangerously passionate... emotionally charged,"
said lawyer Leonard de Vera of the
Equal Justice for All Movement and a
leading member of the Estrada Resign movement.
He voiced his concern that a decision by the high tribunal
rendering the plunder law unconstitutional would trigger mass actions,
probably more massive than those that led to People Power II.
Sammy Malunes, spokesperson of the militant
Kilusang Mayo Uno labor group, said workers were "agitated"
by reports that the high court would rule in favor of Estrada's
petition and that the Estrada camp had a 500-million-peso fund
to lure justices to vote in his favor. "We are dismayed," he said.
"We are alarmed." The Supreme Court is still set to meet Tuesday
in an en banc session to review the plunder case,
but according to Plunder Watch, a coalition of groups tracking
the progress of the plunder charges filed against
the former President, members of the high tribunal are
locked in a 6-6 stalemate.
Text messages that swept the country Sunday even alleged that
eight justices, or a majority of the court,
had already voted to declare the plunder law unconstitutional.
One widely circulated message urged anti-Estrada quarters to
let the eight justices "feel our anger."
A nullified plunder law would allow Estrada and his son
former Mayor Jinggoy Estrada to return home.
The other charges they are facing --
two counts of perjury and one count of illegal use of alias --
are bailable offenses.
The KMU has also learned, through what he described as
Supreme Court insiders, that two other justices are being lured by
the defense to favor the Estrada petition, Malunes said.
Quoting reports, he said the Estrada camp is using 500 million pesos
to have the plunder law declared unconstitutional.
He said the amount was part of the fund used for the failed p
ower grab during the May 1 assault on Malacanang.
Fishermen, farmers, drivers, and other laborers nationwide
have been conducting spirited discussions about the rumor, he added.
"We are dismayed. We are alarmed."
Even students, who have taken a low profile after Estrada's ouster,
are now only "too eager" to articulate their views on the
impending Supreme Court decision, said Cristina Palabay,
chair of the National Union of Students in the Philippines.
Dr. Carol Araullo, convenor of Plunder Watch,
said emotions were high over the issue since it is the
"turning point in the plunder case against Estrada and in
Philippine democracy."
De Vera warned of a crisis far worse than the "jueteng" scandal
that led to People Power II if the rumor turned out to be true.
Inquirer, 11/19/2001
"NOTHING'S CHANGED,"A YEAR AFTER ESTRADA IMPEACHMENT:
At the House and the Senate, lawmakers who at great
odds mustered the courage and the numbers to have former
President Joseph Estrada impeached one year ago see
little cause to celebrate the landmark event.
And at least two figures irrevocably identified with
the deposed leader still assail the event and hanker for a
different ending. It was a full turn of the annum on Tuesday
to the historic House session when then Speaker Manuel Villar,
now a senator, managed to complete the impeachment process by
taking the ruse of a prayer to transmit the
impeach articles to the Senate. Villar is now "worried"
that the lessons of Edsa 2, which was a direct offshoot
of the impeachment and trial of Estrada, would go for naught.
Villar, however, acknowledged one good result.
"Probably the only favorable change that has happened was that
there is now greater awareness among government officials that
no one is above the law." Legislators of the 11th Congress who
were named to prosecute Estrada and who are back as members o
f the present Congress also say they see no reason to celebrate,
saying the fight against the wrongdoing prominent during the
past administration had not been completed.
Sen. Joker Arroyo, one of the lead prosecutors at
the impeachment trial, could only break out in a wry smile when
asked what favorable changes had transpired since Nov. 13, 2001.
Misamis Oriental Rep. Oscar Moreno,
when asked how former House prosecutors marked the
anniversary of Estrada_s impeachment, retorted,
"Is there cause for celebration?"
As prosecutor, Moreno was assigned to present the
testimony of bank officials against Estrada in
the failed Senate impeachment trial.
Former first lady and now Sen. Luisa "Loi" Ejercito took
the occasion to defend her husband anew.
Akbayan partylist Rep. Etta Rosales delivered a
privilege speech Tuesday in which she recalled the
day of impeachment, a first in Philippine history.
Rosales'speech prompted Maguindanao Rep. Didagen Dilangalen
to declare that Estrada's impeachment and ultimate removal
from Malacanang by Edsa 2 was unconstitutional.
Rosales said the impeachment was significant because it
underscored the essence of democracy--
that all men or persons are equal and that no person,
no matter how powerful, was above the law.
She said the impeachment upheld the separation of powers.
But Rosales admitted that "so much controversy had,
and continues to,
hound this first historical act of the 11th Congress."
She said the debate about what transpired in the House
that fateful day showed there was a need to
"refine the rules" on impeachment. Inquirer, 11/14/2001
DEFENSE LAWYERS ATTACK EX-SSS CHIEF'S TESTIMONY:
Lawyers of deposed President Joseph Estrada on Thursday began
picking apart the testimony of former Social Security System
chair Carlos Arellano that Estrada had "pressured" him into
making a big purchase of Belle Corp. shares using SSS funds in 1999.
Arellano, on cross examination by defense lawyer,
former Justice Secretary Serafin Cuevas, on the second day of the
plunder trial of Estrada, admitted the following:
" That he decided to testify against Estrada after being informed by
then Government Service and Insurance System chair Federico Pascual
that both of them were going to be implicated in the Estrada plunder
case by businessman and now Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez.
" That in the three phone calls Estrada allegedly made
"instructing" him to buy Belle Corp. shares,
the former president did not tell him how many shares to buy and
at what price. " That it was his (Arellano's) decision--not Estrada's--
to purchase 249 million Belle shares on Oct. 21, 1999
at 3.14 pesos per share for a total of 784 million pesos.
" That he "presumed" that Estrada had wanted him to make such a
big purchase because "the former president would not have called me
for just a small matter. " That the SSS, during his term,
had been buying Belle shares regularly even without
"pressure" from Estrada, and that in October 1999 alone,
the SSS transacted with Belle 51 times.
" That it was only on Oct. 21, 1999 that the SSS bought
Belle shares because of alleged pressure from Estrada,
accounting for 16 of the total 51 transactions that month.
Cuevas, in an interview outside the court,
said Arellano's admissions showed that the Oct. 21 purchase
was made "in the regular course of business"--
not because of any pressure from Estrada.
Arellano, during direct examination on Wednesday,
said he carried out Estrada's order to buy a "significant bloc"
of Belle shares even though he personally thought the timing was
off for such a big purchase.
Asked by Cuevas why he went into such heavy buying,
Arellano stuck to his testimony:
"Because of the calls of the president."
Inquirer, 11/09/2001
IMPEACHMENT RAP FILED VS OMBUDSMAN FOR GRAFT:
An impeachment case against Ombudsman Aniano Desierto was
filed Tuesday in the House by a lawyer who claimed to have
given him video equipment and "goodwill money" amounting to
almost 1 million pesos in exchange for sitting on a case in 1997.
Ernesto Francisco, a former associate lawyer for the Accra law office,
lodged the 45-page complaint at the office of House S
ecretary General Robert Nazareno.
Misamis Oriental Rep. Oscar Moreno endorsed the complaint.
He told reporters that he did so "because I believe in (Francisco's)
sincerity, and the complaint-affidavit was detailed enough."
Moreno was part of the prosecution at Joseph Estrada's impeachment
trial last year. Desierto heads the prosecution at Estrada's trial
for plunder at the Sandiganbayan.
Francisco charged Desierto with bribery,
culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of the public trust
under Sections 1, 12, and 13 (1), in relation to
Sections 2 and 3 of Article XI of the 1987 Constitution.
He said Desierto received from his client Luke Roxas
the video equipment and "goodwill money" in exchange for holding
in abeyance the investigation of a scam that involved Roxas' bank.
Roxas was the controlling stockholder of several companies
including the ASB Realty Inc. and the Bank of Southeast Asia (BSA),
which is now known as DBS (Development Bank of Singapore)-Philippines.
In a phone interview Tuesday night, Desierto said the impeachment
complaint against him was part of a "well-funded demolition job"
aimed at "all the institutions" involved in Estrada's plunder trial.
Moreno said he first met Francisco last year,
when the lawyer was representing former Tourism Secretary
Antonio Gonzalez in a case involving the Mondragon
Leisure and Resorts Corp.
But it was only some three weeks ago that Francisco sought his help
regarding the impeachment complaint against Desierto, he said.
Moreno said a colleague in the House, whom he did not name,
had referred Francisco to him. He said this colleague might also
endorse the complaint.
The congressman said he was initially concerned that the
complaint against Desierto would have an impact on Estrada's
plunder trial. But he added: "We are doing this to improve our chances
in the plunder cases."
According to Moreno, if Desierto is not clean,
as Francisco's complaint charges, then there is a danger that
he may not also be clean with the other "complex" cases.
Moreno asked civil society to help Francisco in the same way
it helped in Estrada's impeachment case. Inquirer, 11/07/2001
BADOY: GARCHITORENA TOLD ME TO QUIT:
The anti-graft court hearing the
plunder case against deposed President Joseph Estrada is
a house divided. Sandiganbayan Justice Anacleto Badoy Jr.
said on Sunday that Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena
"pressured" him into resigning last month during an "unusual"
meeting. The announcement came on the eve of the start of
the trial on the plunder charge against Estrada.
But Garchitorena denied pressuring Badoy.
Whatever prompted Badoy to make the accusation, he said,
"may have come from others, not from me."
But at a press conference at the St. Michael the Archangel
chapel in Fort Bonifacio, Badoy said: "Yes.
I confirm that Presiding Justice Garchitorena
is pressuring me to resign as chair of the third division."
Badoy said Garchitorena had also tried to enlist the
support of the two other justices of the Sandiganbayan's
third division. The cause-oriented group Plunder Watch
claimed that Badoy was the target of a demolition job,
supposedly orchestrated by the opposition, in a
"desperate effort" to have the plunder case
against Estrada dismissed. "(Defense lawyers) are now
centering their attack on Badoy since they feel that he is
the strongest link in Estrada's plunder case," Plunder Watch
convenor Dr. Carolina Araullo told reporters.
Badoy, chair of the third division that in handling
the plunder case against Estrada, refused to comment on
the possible motives of Garchitorena.
But Badoy said that if he resigned, Garchitorena,
the most senior justice,would have a "first crack"
at the chairmanship of the third division.
Badoy said he would fend off any pressure,
noting that resignations are supposed to be "voluntary."
Araullo said Badoy showed "strength of character"
when he proceeded with the hearing of the plunder case
despite the many motions filed by the defense.
She said the defense scored a "psychological and political victory"
when Garchitorena ruled in open court that the accusation
that Estrada committed perjury when he allegedly underdeclared
his assets for 1999 was vague. In making the ruling,
Garchitorena practically dismissed the perjury case
against Estrada, prosecutors earlier said.
Inquirer, 11/05/2001
